Pretzel Recipe:

Once the yeast, mixed with the cup of warm water and the sugar, had risen, I mixed it with the flour. After leaving it to rise for one hour, I rolled the dough into thin strips then created the classic shape.
You then put the pretzels into boiling water briefly before basting with a beaten egg and topping with salt. Bake for 10 minutes in the top oven of the Aga.

Problems: they didn’t taste authentic. They were too salty. They stuck to the parchment paper.

So scanning around the internet, I disovered that the authentic way to make pretzels is to put food-grade lye into the boiling water. However this can be replaced by baking soda which is a little easier to get hold of, plus less dangerous (you are supposed to wear rubber gloves and goggles when handling lye). The sticking was due to the fact that I had not left the pretzels to drain on a rack prior to placing them on the oiled parchment paper. The saltiness…apparently kosher salt is less salty. As it is Passover I will have to wait until it is over to buy kosher salt.

Conclusion: needs a little adjusting. May also try them stuffed with cheese. But well worth a go!

I thought that it just tasted less salty although maybe there is some science to explain how some salt is less salty than others. I should ask my flatmate, he’s a geologist and should know these things…